Riyad Mahrez had been “grumpy” with Pep Guardiola due to his lack of game time before he scored a hat-trick for Manchester City against Sheffield United.
City progressed into the FA Cup final with a 3-0 win over the Championship side at Wembley on Saturday afternoon. Mahrez was the star of the show, becoming the first player to score three in the last four of the FA Cup since Manchester United ’s Alex Dawson in 1958.
He kept his cool from the penalty spot after Bernardo Silva was fouled by Daniel Jebbison to make it 1-0 after 43 minutes. The Algerian winger then scored a brilliant solo goal, dribbling into the heart of the box before finding the bottom corner.
Mahrez completed his hat-trick in style, firing in from Jack Grealish ’s cut-back to wrap up the win and ensure City will face the winner of Manchester United vs Brighton in the final on June 3. Guardiola paid tribute to his match-winner, but also gave a nod to the competition for places in his side.
“He’s grumpy with me when he doesn’t play, all the time,” Guardiola said. “He makes me notice when he’s grumpy. So happy for Riyad, he loves to play football, he’s given so much for Man City and hopefully [he continues to] in the future. Not a guy who comes in asking how long he has to be there and then goes home, it’s the opposite.”
He added to the BBC : “He’s always grumpy with me when he doesn’t play, but I know perfectly his quality and on the biggest stages and in the important moments, he’s there.”
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Mahrez has now contributed 15 goals and eight assists in 38 appearances across all competitions. He was given the chance to start, with Guardiola rotating his squad after the Champions League win over Bayern Munich in midweek.
"It feels very good [to score a hat-trick],” he told ITV. “The most important thing is that two or three seasons in a row we've come here in the semi-finals and lost. Today, we wanted to make sure we got to the final. I think I had a good game.
"I don't know really which goal was the best. It's a good team achievement and we took the game seriously.
"It means a lot to be in the final. We really want to work hard in every competition going. We're in the final of the FA Cup which is amazing. Now we have to concentrate on the league and the next game against Arsenal. We have a very good squad and a very good team. We have to keep going."
